My New Favorite Thing in the Universe, Literally.

29 April 2009

Early last year, after experiencing a particularly interesting and informative TED Talk, I became briefly obsessed with the Cassini probe and spent several weeks following, tracking and gathering any and all information I could about it. As with many of my obsessions, it simply faded and I have not returned back to the stars for adoration until now.

Reading this article, about the oldest known event EVAR,Â made me become entirely re-devoted to being intrigued, impressed and astounded by The Universe. Having the worlds most limited knowledge of astronomy (so adept am I that I almost typed astrology there), I certainly can’t grasp the finer points of the physics and scientific importance of this event, but one thing I can do is say; Holy Cow.

Holy Moly Cow – 13 Billion years ago is a really very long time ago, and it seriously makes me think of how out of sync we are with the rest of the universe, given how large it is. I’m not going to get into theological or religious debate here – I’m just going to sit back, be impressed and consider the vastness of the universe as perceived by me. Most people take events like this, or general news of the Giant Expanding Universe in general as a sort of defeat, making them feel small and insignificant. Not Me.

I find this sort of thing exhilirating, and inspiring. Knowing that our tiny blueÂ marble is just that, tiny, is liberating and celebratory to me. I’m stopping myself from going on a pages-long rant here about how Wonderful and Magical it all is, but rest assured, I’m in a happy place because of this news.Â I’m happy I found a new interstellar interest, and that we’re now one step closer to finding the End of the Universe (because I’d really like to dine there).